American Scene

ANCHORAGE | A police officer used his Taser to discourage a small black bear that had gotten into someone’s fish fryer.

Lt. Dave Parker delivered a 30-second burst of 100,000 volts to scare away the bear from a house.

Lt. Parker told the Anchorage Daily News the bear flipped on its back, flailing its feet in the air, growling and crying until it rolled off the porch. He said it shook its head and then quickly bolted away.

He hopes the stun-gun tactic will keep the bear out of further mischief.

CALIFORNIA

Marchers demand mayor’s resignation

BELL | Several hundred angry residents from a modest blue-collar Los Angeles suburb marched Sunday to call for the resignation of the mayor and some city council members in a protest sparked by the sky-high salaries of three recently departed administrators.

The residents of the city of Bell marched to Oscar’s Korner Market and Carniceria, owned by Mayor Oscar Hernandez, then to his home, demanding that he reduce his own six-figure compensation or quit. They then did the same with some members of the city council, with many marchers wearing T-shirts that read “My city is more corrupt than your city.”

The protest was organized by the Bell Association to Stop the Abuse, a group founded after the Times reported that Bell’s city manager, police chief and assistant city manager were all being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, with city manager Robert Rizzo collecting a check of $787,637. All three resigned Friday.

IOWA

Dam failure causes millions in damage

MONTICELLO | Flooding from the Maquoketa River after the Lake Delhi dam failed has damaged dozens of homes and businesses, causing millions of dollars in damage in Monticello, officials said Sunday.